Field
The present disclosure generally relates to an audio interface arrangement. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an audio interface arrangement that may be arranged in a handheld device, such as a tablet computer or a mobile phone (e.g., a smart phone). The disclosure also presents a handheld device comprising an audio interface arrangement.
Description of the Related Art
There is a trend towards providing handheld devices with capacity to deliver an increasing number of services to the users of the handheld devices.
Commonly, different categories of users demand various services. In order to adapt handheld devices (e.g., tablet computers, mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDA:s), etc.) to the users' various demands the handheld devices are provided with different applications by which the services are performed. Applications are sometimes commonly referred to as “apps”. One example of a handheld device will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. The FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a mobile phone 100, which is an example of a handheld device. The mobile phone 100 may comprise a single audio input/output socket 102, a plurality of user control devices 110, a display 112, a loudspeaker 114, and a microphone (not shown).
The socket 102 is typically arranged to enable a user to connect an external input/output accessory, such as a headset 150, to the mobile phone 100 by inserting an audio plug 152 into the socket 102. Typically, the user control devices 110 are implemented as various buttons by which users control or adjust the applications when interacting with the mobile phone 100. Traditionally, the buttons are implemented as push buttons, which the user may press with his/her fingers in order to control a functionality of the mobile phone 100. For instance the user may use a button for navigating in menus in an application, or increasing/decreasing the volume of the sound that is outputted by the loudspeaker 114 during an ongoing phone call.
As users demand more and more services and applications, it becomes a challenge to design flexible and convenient interfaces of the handheld devices.
One example of a new service offered by a mobile phone is disclosed in the Japanese patent application no. JP2007114561A, titled “Mobile Phone-Contained Voice Conversion System” and published on May 10, 2007. JP2007114561A discloses a mobile phone, which provides a Karaoke service to the user of the mobile phone.